Mountains in Bjni (Summer 2016)

YARP hello from Elise! This Yarp post will be about the mountains in Bjni (Budge-nee). Unlike other posts, this one will be like a story.

The metal door clanked as I opened it. “Mama, I’ll be waiting for you outside!” I yelled into the house in Armenian. My mom and I were going on a stroll to the shop, as well as a hike in Bjni. A jingling of key startled me as I turned around to see what it was. My mom was locking the door to our Bjni house. She was wrapped in her favorite orange jacket, and blue jeans with sneakers. “So, are you ready to go?” She asked. “I was born ready! Let’s get going already!” I responded.

The old path to the shop was full of rocks, pebbles, cow/goat dung, and trash. There are even a few animal bones, not that it’s not a safe place to go. My mom and I carefully picked our way single file through the narrow path. As we walked, the sound and smell of goats disturbed my thoughts. We were walking past a farm on one side of the path, and a garden on the other. A dog barked somewhere near the town. A stray probably, I thought. Gushing water sounded overhead. I paused for a while to gaze at the mountains, wishing I could climb them. One mountain I especially wanted to climb, since it had a cave at the top. Who knows what could be in there?

Ducks waddled near another farm in the little town of Bjni. My mom and I were walking on the bordering land next to the river. As my mom and I crossed the bridge that led to the other side of the river, I peered over to look at the bottom of the clear, flowing river. “Careful,” my mom said, since the bridge had no railing. As I mention this, I am not trying to say that Bjni isn’t safe. Hardly any danger at all in fact. Any way, the river was filled with reeds. When we reached the other side, a car zoomed by. There aren’t many cars on the road in Bjni, but when there are, they are mostly old time cars.

“Isn’t Թագավորանիստ beautiful?” I asked my mom. Translated, that would mean, “Isn’t the Bjni Fortress beautiful?” The ruins of the ancient Fortress came into view. The Armenian flag at the top blew in the wind as my mom answered, “It really is.” A few cows passed by as the clouds uncovered the sun, silhouetting the mountains. Suddenly I understood the beauty of Bjni and why my mom wanted to come here so often. Just a glance at the rocky mountains with their jagged peaks, the cows climbing the grassy hills, the Bjni fortress, and the small cozy little one-roomed church, the best place for prayers.